RANKIN INLET - Rankin Inlet Fire Chief Alan Stebbing will be honoured in Victoria, B.C., this coming month for helping to save three young adults who were in a severe car crash on Aug. 19, 2006.

Rankin Inlet Fire Chief Alan Stebbing will receive the bronze medal for bravery this coming month for his actions in saving the victims of a car crash this past year. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

Stebbing will receive the Royal Canadian Humane Association's bronze medal for bravery from B.C. Lt.-Gov. Iona V. Campagnolo.

Stebbing was driving along the Coquihalla Connector near Merritt, B.C., while on vacation when he spotted a car that had left the road, gone down an embankment and started to burn with three young adults inside.

Stebbing stopped his vehicle and went down to free the people from the car.

"A couple of other people had stopped and were giving me a hand to get them out while the car was burning," said Stebbing.

"We managed to get them out and away from immediate danger.

"There were two males and a female in the vehicle, and the young lady was severely injured."

Stebbing ran the scene while he and a few others did what they could for the injured, who were about 50 kilometres away from the nearest hospital.

After the ambulances arrived to transport the injured to the hospital, Stebbing passed on his information to the RCMP and departed the scene.

As he replayed the event in his mind later, he realized the situation could have been much worse.

"There was a second when I got a big gulp of black smoke and thought this might not be a great situation, but you do what you have to.

"I had to do everything I could to help because if we didn't get them out, they would have burned to death in the car."

Stebbing said he was honoured to receive the news a few weeks ago that he had been named as a bronze-medal recipient.

He said it's important to recognize the acts of people who care enough to help.

"This is something I do in my work, so I'm trained to stop and do everything I can in this situation.

"But when someone is recognized for an act of bravery, it reminds everyone that we're in this together and we need to help each other out.

"While you never encourage people to put themselves in harm's way, you hope people will always be there to help others when lives are at stake."